I fell in love with butternut squash while preparing potato and squash chicken curry. This is a curcuma-free recipe for a stew that uses this wonderful vegetable that is pefect for cold autumn days. Although the base ingredients (chicken and squash) are similar, the the flavours are completely different.
You'll need:
one chicken breast
around 500g of butternut squash (half a medium squash)
1 medium sized onion
100ml white wine
2 spoons of flour
1 garlic clove
75ml cream
a glass of bouillion
hot smoked paprika (pimenton)
fresh thyme
salt and pepper
rice to serve with
1. Start off by cutting the squash longways into quarters. Then put it on a tray and slide into the oven set to 180 degrees for around 15 minutes. This way you can avoid peeling the skin, which in case of a butternut squash is rather hard.
2. In the meantime cut the chicken into small cubes, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and then cover in flour before frying it on a pan. Add a few branches of thyme for the aroma.
3. Transfer the chicken into a casserole dish and use the same pan to fry previously sliced onion.
4. Finely chop the garlic and add it to the onion once it softens. Add smoked paprika, and then white wine. Cook for a few more minutes, until the liquid reduces itself. Transfer the contents of the pan into the casserole dish.
5. Remove the squash from the oven, remove the skin (it should come off easily now) and cut into cubes. Add to the cassserole dish.
6. Add the bouillion to the casserole dish.
7. Add some more fresh thyme, mix the ingredients and transfer the casserole dish (covered) into the oven. Leave in there for around 15 minutes (or until the squash is completely soft).
8. Towards the end of the cooking add cream, et voila!
9. Serve with rice (I recommend basmati).
Buon appetito!
